Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

(hb; 2000: first book in the Robert Langdon series)


From the inside cover

“When world-renown Harvard symbiologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol – seared into the chest of a murdered physicist – he discovers the evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient brotherhood known as the Illuminati... the most power underground organization to ever walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy – the Catholic Church.

“Langdon’s worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican’s holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of the Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival...”


Review

Blend James Bond with some art history, religion and philosophy, and this is what a you get: a pot boiler that’s simultaneously dumb fun (imagine Michael Bay filming this) and a clever, often humorous historical fiction piece.

Langdon is more akin to Ian Fleming’s literary Bond than the cinematic version of Bond (i.e., he doesn’t sleep with every woman he meets), and is an intellectual with an awareness of pop culture. Vetra is interchangeable with some of the smarter “Bond girls” (Gala Brand from Moonraker comes to mind).

This visually-spectacular work is full of non-stop action and twists (most of them obvious – as are the bad guys), with little character development... no biggie, in a thrill vehicle like this.

Passages about art and religious history (providing improbable backstory) pop up often, giving a crazed legitimacy to the set-up. Some on-line reviewers bitched about these passages, but I found them more interesting than the actual story – until the end, when one prominent character devolves into speechifying.

Brown heaps on too many twists at the end, many of them hackneyed, almost ruining the novel. The ending comes straight out of a James Bond film (save one – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service).

Fun, dumb, and hard to put down, Angels & Demons is something to burn through at the beach, nothing more.

Followed by The Da Vinci Code.

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The film version of Angels & Demons is scheduled for stateside release on May 15, 2009.

Tom Hanks plays Robert Langdon. Ewan McGregor plays Carlo Ventresca. Stellan Skarsgård plays Richter. Ayelet Zurer plays Vittoria Vetra. Armin Mueller-Stahl plays Straus.

Ron Howard is set to direct, from a script by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

(pb; 2000: second book in the Robert Langdon series)

From the back cover

“While in Paris, Harvard symbiologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci – clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

“Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion – a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and da Vinci – and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle – while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move – the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.”


Review

A year after the events of Angels & Demons, Langdon finds himself in the middle of another international conspiracy, one that incorporates everything from Mary Magdalene to Walt Disney. The set-up’s familiar, but author Langdon tweaks it in a refreshing way so that it doesn’t feel like a rehash of Angels & Demons. Most of what held true for the previous book holds true for Da Vinci, but this time around, author Brown has concocted a better tale: while there’s just as many twists in this as the previous book, they’re more effective.

The character of Sophie Neveu replaces Vittoria Vetra as Langdon’s (possible) love interest; in true Bond-style, Vetra is briefly mentioned in a couple of flashbacks (a la Tiffany Case, mentioned in Ian Fleming’s From Russia With Love), then forgotten.

The Da Vinci Code, like its predecessor, is a beach-read actioner that ably mixes low- and high-brow humor, though Da Vinci improves the formula.

Followed by The Lost Symbol, which is set for a September 15, 2009 publication date.

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The film version of The Da Vinci Code is scheduled for stateside release on May 19, 2006.

Ron Howard is set to direct Da Vinci, from a script by Akiva Goldsman.

Tom Hanks plays Langdon. Audrey Tautou plays Neveu. Ian McKellen plays Sir Leigh Teabing. Jean Reno plays Bezu Fache. Paul Bettany plays Silas. Jürgen Prochnow plays Andre Vernet.